Books

For all science fiction enthusiasts, entertainment industry artists, illustration and design students worldwide!

Steambot Studios presents its first original visual “art of” book, Exodyssey. A new alien race has been discovered that adorns themselves like humans celebrating Halloween. A group of unlikely heroes from Earth, consisting of prisoners, pilots and scientists, must travel light years away to confront this new race that they feel threatened by. Steambot Studios takes us on a fantastic visual journey to tell this science fiction tale.

Steambot Studios, a collective of six digital artists working in the world of entertainment – Sebastien Larroude, Thierry Doizon, Joel Dos Reis Viegas, David Levy, Nicolas Ferrand and Patrick Desgreniers, takes us aboard an epic science fiction ride in Exodyssey. Created in parallel with a series of art education DVDs and lectures, the group demonstrates their creative production art techniques developed through many years of experience in the field working for such companies as Electronic Arts, Activision, Ubisoft, Epic, Digital Dimension, Canal+.. Follow the Steambot crew through an original but also realistic point of view on futuristic civilizations, space transportation and society as they visually develop the characters, vehicles, environments and props needed to tell the tale. Various educational lectures and tools are thoroughly documented in this visually stunning book.

The 2nd edition is completely revised with an additional 68 pages of indispensable material.

Currently used as the educational handout for the transportation design students at Art Center as well as institutions around the world, H-Point is now available to aspiring car creators everywhere, clearly organizing the packaging standards that apply to car and truck design; along with insightful graphic explanations, this book demystifies the automotive design process and allows designers access to illustrious careers’ worth of knowledge.

In the spring of 2005 Chris Ayers was busy working as a concept artist in the Hollywood film industry. That came to a crashing halt when he was diagnosed with leukemia on April first. After a year-long period of treatment and recovery he started a sketchbook called The Daily Zoo on the anniversary of his diagnosis. Over the next 365 days he would draw one animal each day, challenging both his self-discipline and imagination. Most importantly it would allow him the focused opportunity to celebrate the gift of each healthy day.

The pages of The Daily Zoo: Volume One are chock-filled with the first year’s 365 distinct critters, ranging from curious pandas to sinister hyenas, athletic aardvarks to zealous zebras, with the choice of artistic styles as diverse as the subject matter. Alongside the images, Ayers ties in commentary about his cancer experience, the sources of his artistic inspiration and his creative methods. Regardless of your artistic experience, this book will leave you inspired to grab the nearest pencil, pen, brush or crayon and start drawing!

*A portion of the proceeds from this book will support cancer-related charities and research; the current recipient is The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Counterweight is a collection of images, observations, and concepts by artist/creator Rick O'Brien. For the last eight years, Rick has been a one-man art department in Hollywood, designing, constructing and painting sets and props for such clients as Victoria’s Secret, Luxor Las Vegas, Nikon, London IMAX, Konica, Tevo, Motorola, Honda, United States Postal Service, Proctor & Gamble, “The Contender” and “The Apprentice.”

Compiling stunning images from experiences, environments and the emotions perceived on these diverse projects, as well as from his everyday life, Rick captures the human condition like no one else. Nationally recognized by the Society of Illustrators, O’Brien’s art has placed both gold and bronze and has received much acclaim and print exposure in various publications.

Through traditional mediums ranging from egg tempera and oil to gouache, wood, ink, resin, and plaster, Counterweight beautifully scrutinizes Man and his journey, showcasing captivating images that unequivocally resound O’Brien’s motto, “Fortitude.”

SOMETHING BIG IS BREWING!

Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem – Inside the Monster Shop is the upcoming sequel to 2004's Alien vs. Predator film. In this follow-up to the worldwide hit ALIEN VS. PREDATOR, the iconic monsters from two of the scariest film franchises ever, wage war in an American Midwestern town — with the residents caught in the middle.

Filming began in September 2006 in Vancouver. Tom Woodruff, Jr. and Alec Gillis from Amalgamated Dynamics (ADI), veterans of the first AVP and all the previous ALIEN sequels, will be handling the creature FX for the encore film as they did for the previous installments.

ADI opens its doors to unveil the secrets of the creature design process behind two of the most frightening characters ever! From conception to fabrication and finishing, follow their talented crew in-studio and on location through this captivating book.

Want to be a video game designer?

This diverse collection of concept art highlights the most recently released video games of Midway Games, including the rich mysterious worlds of Mortal Kombat, the science fiction of Area 51 and Psi-Ops, the high fantasy of Gauntlet, the eerie horror of The Suffering, as well as several new games that have not yet been announced. Of special interest to many fans will be the inclusion of art from Stranglehold, the recent project (due May 2007) from Visual Design Director Stephan Martinière. Most of the images contained within have never before been published in any form.

Stephan Martinière is an internationally renowned Science Fiction and Fantasy artist. He is the recipient of numerous awards including a silver and a gold Spectrum Award, eight Master Awards and an Excellence Exposé Award. He is also an accomplished concept artist who has worked on such movies as I Robot, Star Wars Episodes II & III, Red Planet, Sphere, and The Time Machine. As a visual design director for Cyan, Martinière was responsible for creating and overseeing the look of the games Uru: Ages Beyond Myst, Uru: The Path of the Shelland Myst 5. Martinière is currently the art director at ID software in Dallas, Texas for “Rage”.